Recently, Balenciaga announced the appointment of two brand ambassadors for the first time in its century-old history: PP Krit Amnuaydechkorn and Isabelle Huppert. In the official announcement of the brand, “Their outstanding creative talents, values and lifestyle are the best representatives of the appearance of the contemporary Balenciaga group.”
French actress Isabelle Huppert first met Balenciaga in July 2021, and then became a close friend of the brand, and then participated in the brand’s advertising image shooting, fashion show and haute couture series show for many times. In the 2023 winter series advertising campaign, the new series of shapes are wonderfully interpreted through improvisation.
PP Krit Amnuaydechkorn first debuted as a model, and quickly became popular in 2020 with the drama “Interpret My Love with Your Heart”, and performed the theme song and interlude. Soon, he became the darling of Thailand’s new generation of fashion brands. He has attended Balenciaga’s latest season of ready-to-wear release and haute couture series release show, and it is said that he will carry out more project cooperation with the brand in the future.
Choosing Isabelle Huppert is naturally easy to imagine, France has always been an important position for luxury brands. The choice of Thai actor, singer and model PP Krit Amnuaydechkorn left more room for imagination. Is choosing a popular Thai idol related to the current changes in the luxury market?
Before the outbreak of the epidemic, Thailand had already shown its fashionable side to many fashion lovers, and had relatively complete luxury brand stores.
Bangkok’s street culture originator VAC, sneaker store Carnival and its fashion meeting point UPPERGROUND. Siam Discovery, a large shopping mall opened in 2016, gathers stores/spaces such as COMME des GARÇONS, Issey Miyake, and Rimowa. Off-White™ opened its flagship store in Bangkok as early as 2018. In 2018, the Siam World, which was built for 54 billion baht (about 11.4 billion yuan), gathered many luxury brands. Street artists such as KAWS, MADSAKI, Sorayama Ki will also choose to hold solo exhibitions in Thailand.
Although the outbreak of the epidemic has brought great challenges to the global fashion industry, many fashion luxury brands are still actively deploying in Thailand to quickly respond to the open world.
In June 2020, Siam Premium Outlet Bangkok, the first luxury outlet project in Thailand, was opened, and brands such as Burberry and Balenciaga settled in. Nike also set up a large high-end store of 1,300 square meters here. In 2021, the BVLGARI flagship store in Bangkok’s IconSiam department store, one of the largest shopping malls in Asia, will also officially open…
Thai actor Bright Vachirawit will become the spokesperson of Burberry South Asia Pacific in 2022; Dior also announced in June this year that Thai actors Nattawin Wattanagitifat and Phakphum Romsaitong will become its latest brand ambassadors…
According to the Southeast Asia Fashion Report, in the past year, Thailand ranked second in the dynamics of luxury brands in Southeast Asia, only behind Singapore. In addition, large music festivals such as Rolling Loud, BLACKPINK member Lisa’s influence and activity in Thailand have also rapidly increased the attention of the market.
Thailand’s luxury goods market was worth US$2.3 billion in 2019, according to Euromonitor International. According to the data released by Statista, it predicts that the revenue of Thailand’s luxury goods market will reach US$4.64 billion in 2023. The amount doubled in four years.
This growth is also quite dependent on the revival of the tourism industry, tourists have always been the main fashion and luxury consumption in Thailand. When the epidemic was raging, Thailand, which relies heavily on tourism, was closed for a year, resulting in the loss of major customers. According to Thai media Thaiger, the average revenue of international luxury brands in Siam Paragon Shopping Center will increase by 50% year-on-year in 2022, an increase of more than 200% from the level before the epidemic in 2019. Mayuree Chaipromprasith, president of the group, said: “Thailand Its status as a tourist destination offers incredible potential for the luxury market. Luxury brands see Thailand as a key target market in Asia, choosing to open unique concept stores or present their latest collections here.”
On January 3, 2023, Thailand released a new five-year national tourism development plan, which focuses on the revitalization and development of Thailand’s tourism industry after the epidemic, and aims to generate 25% of GDP from tourism in 2027.
This means that Thailand will do more to support the tourism industry. With the keen sense of luxury brands, it is impossible to miss this opportunity.
In addition, the development of Thailand’s secondary luxury market is also showing a gradual growth trend. Relevant data show that Thailand’s secondary luxury market has increased by 65% from 2017 to 2021. Although there is no direct interest transmission between the secondary market and the brand, this change is undoubtedly the focus of the luxury group.
At the same time, more young people are entering the creative industry, and many cutting-edge units have been born in Thailand, such as I Wanna Bangkok, which has gradually developed from an art project to a street brand, and Wonder Anatomie, which is good at “anatomy”, adopts military and retro elements SSAP , DRY CLEAN ONLY that makes good use of old clothes and attracts adidad’s attention, FUXURY that thinks about local culture and subculture, Pretty Boy Gear established by Thai Hip-Hop singer Young Gu… Over the years, the local consumer groups in Thailand are constantly changing, luxury The brand group also hopes to attract the younger generation of consumers through a new generation of fashion icons and various localized and younger marketing strategies.
China is undoubtedly still one of the most important markets for luxury goods groups. The rapidly growing Japan and South Korea regions can also significantly see the efforts of brands. Judging from the actions of brands in recent years, Thailand and other Southeast Asian markets are also expanding. In the process of tight layout, perhaps the competition for this market will become an important part of the group’s revenue growth in the near future.